In late March, eleven fully immunized ’60 COS lunch gang members met at Wayne Kendall’s house. Bowed, but unbroken by a year of isolation, it did not take long for them to catch up, because not much had happened in the past 12 months. John McCullough did go to a Florida island for a few months and amazingly caught a bunch of fish!!! The usual pattern of insults and jokes soon emerged, and the class of 1960 was back in the groove.

Charlie Folkart also visited COS for couple of days in March. He has had an interesting life since graduation. He flew F-100s and then F-4s in Vietnam, F-105s in Bitburg and then became a flight engineer with TWA (including three furloughs). He then had a major life course correction and became a Christian missionary to Kenya for five years. Then, eleven years ago, he married a lady missionary in Ecuador and has lived on the beach there ever since.

RG Head reports that his new book, US Attack Aviation: Air Force/Navy Light Attack: 1916-2020, is in production at Schiffer publishers and is due out next year. Classmates Mike Loh and Ron Yates figure prominently in the book with their F-15/F-16 contributions. Ken Alnwick is featured with his B-26 stories. ‘63 grad, Ron Fogleman contributed his study of attack doctrine in the 1920s. RG and Carole will be traveling to Dessau in October to participate in the dedication of the Oswald Boelcke Memorial Park.

Clem Douglass and his bride Rachel were married in Minneapolis on Sept 5, 2020 after a courtship facilitated by Match.com. This was the second marriage for both. Their blended family is huge, with seven children between them, plus all their assorted grandkids and great-grandkids. Rachael was a lawyer for 30 years and a then took on a tougher job as a school bus driver. Clem also wound up being a bus driver of sorts, retiring as Delta Airlines captain in his civilian career. His Zoomie squadron mate, Dean Bristow attended the wedding ceremonies.

Frank Gorham is back home and faring well after bouncing around Panama City’s medical facilities for 18 months trying to conquer pancreatitis and pneumonia. Currently, Frank is again gainfully employed at a local aviation flying school and is looking forward to acquiring his FAA medical release soon. See Frank’s claim—and others—at our new “Stake Your Claim” feature on the Class Website.

Andy Houzenga got the jump on many of our class when he took the OCS route to pilot training, which made him an old hand when many of us showed up at McGuire to stand in line for C-135 indoctrination and check out. In due course, Andy left the Air Force and built a full career as an American Airlines pilot. Upon retirement, Andy and Janice travelled about the country for 15 years in their RV until settling in Cape Coral FL. Along the way, Andy acquired a farm in Thomson, IL, to which he retreats during the sometimes-brutal Florida summer months.

Mike Loh has an opinion article in the March 2021 AirForceTimes titled “Keep All B-1s and B-2s Until the B-21 Arrives”. Citing the growing importance of the bomber fleet’s lethality and global reach, Mike argues that retiring the B-1s and B-2s should only be done on a one-for-one basis, which, he says, “should be a top DOD priority to continue and modernize them for the next 10 years.”

To push back the hands of time, George Elsea continues to fly his deHaviland Tiger Moth on a regular basis. The open cockpit biplane served as a trainer at RAF Asty Flying School in 1940 and was restored in 1958. George and Mike Love and two others stationed in the UK were flying nuclear alert in F-100s when they bought it in 1963. As their tours ended, they packed flying machine into an old UK Caravan and had it shipped to Mike’s home in Hanna, WY. George made some 20+ moves across the country with the aircraft before settling in Lampassas, TX where he had the good fortune to find a former RAF mechanic who now helps George keep the old girl in good flying condition.

After his second retirement in Abilene TX, Gerry Gammill headed off to Pagosa Springs, CO to enjoy its amenities and great vistas. After his wife passed, Gerry filled his time with books, games, and puzzles. But, soon bored with this, Gerry decided to look at a more serious form of gaming--stock trading. He first dabbled with the offerings of Motley Fool, with some success, but he soon migrated to a new group, The Oxford Club, which has just the right mix of intelligence and style for him, as well as providing him a nicely expanding pocketbook.

Bill Kornitzer and Linda have rolled the dice and booked a Viking cruise in May 2022 to the UK, Ireland, and Scotland, closing out the cruise in Bergen, Norway.

The class and the greater Academy community mourn the loss of our leader and friend Andi Biancur. He will be buried at the Academy on 27 July,2021. See our website for details.